Software:Palworld

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Short description: 2024 survival video game
Palworld
File:Palworld cover art.jpg
Developer(s)Pocket Pair
Publisher(s)Pocket Pair
Producer(s)Takuro Mizobe[1]
Programmer(s)Hiroto Matsutani[2]
Artist(s)Daiki Kizu[2]
Composer(s)Tatsuya Yano
EngineUnreal Engine 5[3]
Platform(s)
ReleaseJanuary 19, 2024
(early access)
Genre(s)Action-adventure, survival
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Palworld[lower-alpha 1] is an upcoming action-adventure, survival, and monster-taming game created and published by Japanese developer Pocket Pair. The game is set in an open world populated with animal-like creatures called "Pals", which players can battle and capture to use for base building, traversal, and combat. Palworld can be played either solo or online with up to 32 players on one server. It was announced in 2021 and launched through early access for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in January 2024.

The game's comedic premise, which involves using firearms and equipping Pals with them, has earned it the nickname "Pokémon with guns". Other elements, such as using creatures for food or placing them to work in mines and factories, have also garnered attention.[4][5] It was generally well received, with praise for its gameplay, content, and satirical premise,[6][7][8] but criticism for its reliance on shock humor and use of unoriginal designs and mechanics.[9][10][11][12]

Palworld sold eight million units in its first six days of early access and reached over two million concurrent players on Steam, making it the second-highest played game of all time on the platform.[13]

Gameplay

In Palworld, players control a customizable avatar from a third-person perspective and explore the open-world Palpagos Islands. Players must manage their hunger level, craft basic tools, gather materials, and build bases that act as fast travel points. Unlocks through a technology tree allow the player to craft and use weapons, structures, and decorations.[9]

The islands are inhabited by over 100 creatures called Pals, which players directly engage in combat with to weaken and then capture using "Pal Spheres". Pals can also be bought on the black market through non-player characters or traded with other players.[9] After obtaining Pals, they can be summoned to battle or stationed at bases to assist with tasks such as scavenging, crafting, and cooking depending on their type. Each Pal has a Partner Skill, allowing further utility by using them as weapons or mounts.[14]

The game's antagonists include various factions, such as the Rayne Syndicate criminal organization, the Free Pal Alliance liberation movement, the Brothers of the Eternal Pyre fanatical group, the police-like Palpagos Islands Defense Force, and the Pal Genetic Research Unit.[better source needed] These factions are led by powerful Pal trainers who reside in towers across the islands and are the game's main boss battles.[15] The factions include human NPCs who occasionally spawn in the world, either patrolling or battling each other, who are hostile to the player and can fight them with weapons. The game features a wanted level system; if the player commits a crime, usually against humans, other human NPCs will become hostile and defense force troopers will spawn to attack them until they are killed or evade their pursuers.[16][17]

Development

Palworld is being developed and published by Pocket Pair, an independent company based in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It is their second early access open world survival project, following Craftopia. Like it, it uses gameplay mechanics reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but has added creature-collecting mechanics popularized by the Pokémon franchise.[18] Pocket Pair said that Pokémon was not one of their main inspirations. According to CEO Takuro Mizobe, the concept of Palworld is based on Ark, which also had monster companions in dinosaurs; the survival mechanics and in-game tasks were inspired by Rust.[19]

The game uses more original assets than Craftopia, which proved to be challenging for the team. Early in development, it was decided to move Palworld from Unity, which powered Pocket Pair's earlier projects, to Unreal Engine 4,[20] as they decided it was more suitable for heavier open-world games.[1] It was first planned for release in 2022, but the deadline was extended to August 2023 as the scope of the project grew and the company hired more staff, and then once again to support dedicated servers on launch. When early access began, the game was estimated to be 60% complete.[1]

In total, the budget exceeded 1 billion yen, and the company hired over 40 additional employees.[20][21] The game's character animator was hired, despite having no prior industry experience, after Takuro Mizobe reached out to a hobbyist animator on YouTube who had been uploading combat animation videos and Girls' Frontline fan content.[20] The game's director applied during a Twitter recruitment run despite already lining up for a position at NetEase.[20] The main character designer for the Pals was initially rejected during an October 2020 recruitment drive for illustrators, but was hired when she reapplied in February 2021.[20]

Release

The game was revealed on June 5, 2021, detailing key features such as survival, crafting, exploration, exploitation of creatures, and the multiplayer focus.[22] More details were shared over the following years, and the game appeared as part of presentations such as Tokyo Game Show, where Pocket Pair announced the release for Xbox consoles in addition to PC, and Summer Game Fest, where they revealed an early access launch window in January 2024.[23][24]

Palworld was released on January 19, 2024, through Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, and is available with Game Pass from day one. The game is expected to remain in early access for at least one year.[25] Planned features for future updates include PvP modes, guild raids, and cross-server Pal trading.[26]

Reception

Pre-release

The game's reveal trailer was met with high engagement on social media and mixed reception, ranging from excitement to disgust.[27] The phrase "Pokémon with guns" was commonly used to refer to the game by both players and journalists.[4][27] Some viewers thought that the game was fake, a sentiment that surprised the development team.[2] It also received some skepticism due to the unfinished state of the developer's earlier work, Craftopia.[28] The satirical tone of promotional material, with references to labor laws and illegal hunting, sparked interest in the game exploring the dark undertones of the creature-collecting genre.[4][27]

In Brazil, the game's publicity was boosted due to the pronunciation of pal being similar to pau in Portuguese. Pau can mean 'wood' but is also sexual slang for penis. Both players and journalists made various puns when discussing the game and the Pals due to this double meaning.[29][30][31][32][33]

Early access

Palworld received mostly positive reviews from critics. IGN and PC Invasion praised its fun combat and engaging gameplay loop, with the latter noting the large, albeit somewhat barren, environments being brought to life by different Pals.[6][34] The Escapist described the combat allowing players to fight alongside their Pals against tougher enemies as a high point.[7] PCGamesN called the game "a morbidly compelling descent into creature capitalism", stating that though it had some flaws, such as its insistence on ethically questionable behavior and the unoriginal designs of Pals, its gameplay and the open world made up for it.[12] GameSpot praised the game's mechanics and tone as a "refreshing perspective in a genre so often tripping over itself to present things as joyous and heartfelt", believing it to represent the first time "a creature collector game has owned up to its exploitation-as-gameplay systems."[8]

Conversely, Rock Paper Shotgun and PC Gamer criticized Palworld for relying too heavily on shock humor about animal abuse and sweatshop labor in its gameplay, which PC Gamer derided as "mid-2000s Newgrounds edgelord" and "over-committing to the bit",[11] with Rock Paper Shotgun arguing the gameplay mechanics and presentation of Pals fundamentally misunderstood the meanings and appeal behind Pokémon and the monster-catching genre.[35] It also attracted some criticism for the unoriginal designs of Pals[10][12] and mechanics lifted from other titles, which VG247 thought undermined a game "worth admiring".[9]

Palworld sold over one million copies in its first eight hours of early access on January 19, 2024,[36] which rose to two million copies within the first 24 hours,[37] three million copies within the first 40 hours,[38] five million copies by day 3,[39] six million by day 4,[40] seven million by day 5,[41] and eight million by day 6.[42] On January 24, 2024, it reached over 2,000,000 concurrent players on Steam, becoming the first game since PUBG to achieve this feat.[13] The high player count led to server issues.[43][37] On January 27, Palworld recorded 2,101,867 concurrent players on Steam.[44][45] As of February 1, the game sold 12 million copies on Steam and had reached 7 million players on Xbox.[46] According to Microsoft, the game was the most-played 3rd party release on Xbox Game Pass, reaching a peak of almost 3 million daily active players on the Xbox platform.[47]

Pokémon plagiarism allegations

Shortly after release, users on Twitter alleged similarities between the designs of several Pals and Pokémon, with a user claiming to show evidence of plagiarism of game assets.[48] However, the CEO of Pocket Pair stated that the character concepts were mostly designed by a single graduate student hired in 2021 following the company's public recruitment run for new illustrators.[48][20] He also states that the game has cleared legal reviews.[49]

On January 24, The Pokémon Company issued a statement indirectly citing the game, writing: "We have received many inquiries regarding another company's game released in January 2024... we intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon."[50][51] Pocket Pair's CEO stated that the company has received death threats.[52][53]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: パルワールド Hepburn: Paruwārudo

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yokoyama, Keiichi; V, Amber (January 23, 2024). "Exclusive interview: Palworld dev talks about game's influences, original assets and the possibilities of a PvP mode". https://automaton-media.com/en/interviews/20240123-25950/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Stewart, Marcus (November 24, 2023). "Creature Feature – Capturing The Curious Story Of Palworld". https://www.gameinformer.com/2023/11/24/creature-feature-capturing-the-curious-story-of-palworld. 
  3. ↑ "Palworld Early Access Launch FAQ". 2024-01-10. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1623730/view/3943530908925344453. "Palworld is made in Unreal Engine 5 ..." 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Almeida, Deborah (July 16, 2022). "Palworld Is Perfect for Gamers Who Wish the Pokémon Universe Was Darker". https://www.cbr.com/palworld-dark-pokemon-indie-game/. 
  5. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (2024-01-23). ""Pokémon with guns": Palworld's runaway Steam success should be a lesson for Game Freak" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/01/the-janky-palworlds-success-points-to-hunger-for-an-actual-grown-up-pokemon-game/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Northup, Travis (January 18, 2024). "Palworld Early Access Review in Progress". https://www.ign.com/articles/palworld-early-access-review. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Berry, Alex (January 19, 2024). "Palworld Is a Refreshing Pokémon Twist on Survival Crafting" (in en-US). https://www.escapistmagazine.com/palworld-impressions-a-refreshing-pokemon-twist-on-survival-crafting/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Delaney, Mark. "Palworld Is Refreshingly Comfortable With Being Immoral". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/palworld-is-refreshingly-comfortable-with-being-immoral/1100-6520478/#:~:text=It%20must%20be%20the%20most,can%20only%20watch%20in%20awe.. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Raynor, Kelsey (January 19, 2024). "Palworld is more than just 'Pokemon with guns', but not much more". https://www.vg247.com/palworld-review-early-access. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Yin-Poole, Wesley (January 19, 2024). "Pokémon Fans Are Coming for Palworld With a Vengeance" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/pokmon-fans-are-coming-for-palworld-with-a-vengeance. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Carpenter, Lincoln (January 18, 2024). "Palworld could be a delight if it wasn't so invested in being awful". https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-could-be-a-delight-if-it-wasnt-so-invested-in-being-awful/. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Palworld early access review – a morbid and messy survival game" (in en-US). January 19, 2024. https://www.pcgamesn.com/palworld/review. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lowry, Brendan; updated January 24, 2024 (January 20, 2024). "Palworld breaks 2 million concurrent players on Steam and becomes second most-played game ever, blowing past Counter-Strike 2 [UPDATED"] (in en). https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/palworld-rockets-onto-steams-top-10-most-played-games-list. 
  14. ↑ Mills, Kiera (January 19, 2024). "The best Pals in Palworld and how to catch them". https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/palworld-best-pals-ranked. 
  15. ↑ Berry, Alex (January 19, 2024). "Where to Find the Rayne Syndicate's Tower in Palworld". https://www.escapistmagazine.com/where-to-find-the-rayne-syndicates-tower-in-palworld/. 
  16. ↑ Jurkovich, Tristan (January 20, 2024). "Palworld: 6 Beginner Mistakes To Avoid" (in en). https://gamerant.com/palworld-beginner-mistakes-avoid-tips/. 
  17. ↑ Novichenko, Artur (January 19, 2024). "Palworld: How to Remove Wanted Status" (in en). https://gamerant.com/palworld-how-to-remove-wanted-status-get-rid-of/. 
  18. ↑ Delaney, Mark (January 18, 2024). "Palworld Tips And Tricks". https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/palworld-tips-and-tricks/2900-5038/. 
  19. ↑ Henley, Stacey (June 9, 2021). "Interview: Palworld Developers Don't Know Why You Think Their Game Is Just Pokemon With Guns". https://www.thegamer.com/interview-palworld-not-just-pokemon-with-guns/. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Pocket Pair (Takuro Mizobe) (January 16, 2024). "3日後に命運が決まる、パルワールドという偶然の物語" (in Japanese). https://note.com/pocketpair/n/n54f674cccc40. 
  21. ↑ いわし (January 16, 2024). "ポケットペア『パルワールド』ができるまでの物語公開―"めちゃくちゃ面白いゲームに仕上がった"失敗を乗り越えて辿り着いた"集大成"" (in Japanese). https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2024/01/16/137559.html. 
  22. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 5, 2021). "Craftopia studio Pocket Pair announces multiplayer open-world survival crafting game Palworld for PC". https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/craftopia-studio-pocket-pair-announces-multiplayer-open-world-survival-crafting-game-palworld-for-pc. 
  23. ↑ Parijat, Shubhankar (September 15, 2023). "Palworld Receives New Gameplay Trailer, Adds Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One Versions". https://gamingbolt.com/palworld-receives-new-gameplay-trailer-adds-xbox-series-x-s-and-xbox-one-versions. 
  24. ↑ Stewart, Marcus (June 8, 2023). "Palworld Catches A January Early Access Launch Date". https://www.gameinformer.com/sgf-2023/2023/06/08/palworld-catches-a-january-early-access-launch-date. 
  25. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 5, 2021). "Palworld launches in Early Access on January 19 for Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC". https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/palworld-launches-in-early-access-on-january-19-for-xbox-series-xbox-one-and-pc. 
  26. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (January 19, 2024). "Palworld Is Already Off to a Huge Start on Steam". https://www.ign.com/articles/palworld-is-already-off-to-a-huge-start-on-steam. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Colantonio, Giovanni (June 7, 2021). "Pokémon with guns: Indie game Palworld has players up in arms". https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/palworld-launches-in-early-access-on-january-19-for-xbox-series-xbox-one-and-pc. 
  28. ↑ Clayton, Natalie (June 8, 2021). "I'm losing my mind at this trailer for open-world Pokémon clone Palworld". https://www.pcgamer.com/im-losing-my-mind-at-this-trailer-for-open-world-pokemon-clone-palworld/. 
  29. ↑ Tunholi, Murilo (January 19, 2024). "Com Pals armados, Palworld é sucesso entre gamers e vende 1 milhão em 8 horas" (in pt-BR). https://gizmodo.uol.com.br/com-pals-armados-palworld-e-sucesso-entre-gamers-e-vende-1-milhao-em-8-horas/. "Para quem não conhece, "Palworld" é um jogo de sobrevivência que mistura conceitos de "Pokémon", "Minecraft" e "Fortnite" com armas de fogo pesadas e piadas de duplo sentido — exclusivas para a localização em português do Brasil." 
  30. ↑ "Memes de Palworld saúdam quinta série dentro de todos os brasileiros" (in pt-BR). https://jovemnerd.com.br/nerdbunker/memes-palworld/. 
  31. ↑ Faz, Mariane (2024-01-19). "Palworld: novo jogo desperta o espírito da 5ª série e web ama" (in pt-BR). https://curtamais.com.br/goiania/palworld-jogo-espirito-da-5-serie/. 
  32. ↑ Zambarda, Pedro (2024-01-24). "Palworld ultrapassa sete milhões de unidades vendidas em cinco dias" (in pt-BR). https://dropsdejogos.uai.com.br/noticias/industria/palworld-7-milhoes/. "O jogo Palworld, tipo Pokémon com Fortnite, e que esgotou nosso estoque de piadas de duplo sentido." 
  33. ↑ "Palworld: como jogar multiplayer no Xbox e PC" (in pt-BR). 2024-01-20. https://www.tecmundo.com.br/voxel/277161-palworld-jogar-multiplayer-galera.htm. "A menos que esteja vivendo em uma caverna, você já deve ter pelo menos esbarrado em algum print com a hilária localização de Palworld" 
  34. ↑ Lambourne, Aidan (January 18, 2024). "Palworld review – Pokemon Survival Evolved". https://www.pcinvasion.com/palworld-review-pokemon-survival-evolved/. 
  35. ↑ Castle, Katharine (January 19, 2024). "Palworld utterly misses the point of being a good Pokémon-like" (in en). Rock, Paper, Shotgun. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/palworld-utterly-misses-the-point-of-being-a-good-pokemon-like. 
  36. ↑ Serin, Kaan (January 19, 2024). "Palworld is the latest mega-hit survival game, selling one million copies in its first 8 hours - with "Very Positive" reviews on Steam". https://www.gamesradar.com/palworld-is-the-latest-mega-hit-survival-game-selling-one-million-copies-in-its-first-8-hours-with-very-positive-reviews-on-steam/. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Robinson, Andy (January 20, 2024). "Pokémon-style survival game Palworld is a huge hit, with 2m players in 24 hours". https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/pokemon-style-survival-game-palworld-is-a-huge-hit-with-2m-players-in-24-hours/. 
  38. ↑ Palumbo, Alessio (January 21, 2024). "Palworld Sold 3+ Million Units in 40 Hours, Broke 1 Million Concurrent Users on Steam (Surpassing Elden Ring)". https://wccftech.com/palworld-sold-3-million-units-in-40-hours-broke-1-million-concurrent-users-on-steam-surpassing-elden-ring/. 
  39. ↑ Bussell, Cat (January 22, 2024). "Trigger-happy Pokémon-alike Palworld passes 5 million sales and 1.2 million concurrent Steam users". https://www.techradar.com/gaming/trigger-happy-pokemon-alike-palworld-passes-5-million-sales-and-12-million-concurrent-steam-users. "Palworld's official Twitter account also stated that the survival game has sold over five million copies since early access started." 
  40. ↑ Romano, Sal (January 23, 2024). "Palworld Early Access sales top six million in four days". https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/palworld-early-access-sales-top-six-million-in-four-days. "Total sales for open-world survival crafting game Palworld have surpassed six million units in only four days after its Early Access launch, developer Pocket Pair announced." 
  41. ↑ @Palworld_EN. "#Palworld has sold over 7 million copies in only 5 days! Thank you very much!! We continue to be hard at work addressing the issues and bugs some users are experiencing. Thanks for your support!". https://twitter.com/Palworld_EN/status/1750032054706897026.  Missing or empty |date= (help)
  42. ↑ "Palworld Early Access Steam sales top eight million in less than six days" (in en-US). 2024-01-25. https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/palworld-early-access-steam-sales-top-eight-million-in-less-than-six-days. 
  43. ↑ Kennedy, Victoria (January 19, 2024). "Palworld servers struggle as players pile on via Steam". https://www.eurogamer.net/palworld-servers-struggle-as-players-pile-on-via-steam. 
  44. ↑ "Palworld Steam Charts". https://steamdb.info/app/1623730/charts/. 
  45. ↑ "Palworld has just one game to beat to become the most played release on Steam ever". January 29, 2024. https://www.destructoid.com/palworld-has-just-one-game-to-beat-to-become-the-most-played-release-on-steam-ever/. 
  46. ↑ Andrew Webster (February 1, 2024). "Palworld isn’t slowing down, hits 19 million players across Steam and Xbox". https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/31/24057131/palworld-steam-xbox-game-pass-sales. 
  47. ↑ Joe Skrebels (January 31, 2024). "Palworld Becomes the Biggest 3rd Party Game Pass Launch Ever". https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/01/31/palworld-biggest-3rd-party-game-pass-launch-ever/. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Robinson, Andy (20 January 2024). "Palworld embroiled in AI and Pokémon 'plagiarism' controversy". VGC. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/palworld-embroiled-in-ai-and-pokemon-plagiarism-controversy/. 
  49. ↑ V, Amber (January 22, 2024). "Palworld's release not faced with legal issues, according to dev". https://automaton-media.com/en/news/20240122-25873/. 
  50. ↑ Bankhurst, Adam (January 24, 2024). "The Pokemon Company Makes an Official Statement on Palworld: 'We Intend to Investigate'" (in en). IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/the-pokemon-company-makes-an-official-statement-on-palworld-we-intend-to-investigate. 
  51. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (2024-01-25). "Pokémon Company will “investigate” Palworld in light of plagiarism accusations" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/01/pokemon-company-will-investigate-palworld-in-light-of-plagiarism-accusations/. 
  52. ↑ Robinson, Andy (22 January 2024). "Palworld Pokémon plagiarism accusations pile up as CEO responds". VGC. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/palworld-pokemon-plagiarism-accusations-pile-up-as-ceo-responds/. 
  53. ↑ Wilde, Tyler (22 January 2024). "Palworld accused of copying Pokémon models, developer pushes back, says artists are being slandered" (in en). PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-accused-of-copying-pokemon-models-developer-pushes-back-says-artists-are-being-slandered/. 

External links



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